How can I walk on the treadmill without texting or talking on the phone? A common sight in gyms, phone use on the treadmill is a hindrance to good cardio workouts. If you are truly challenging yourself by walking fast, or at an incline, then after the warm up minutes, you shouldn’t be able to have a steady conversation. Additionally, your arms are meant to swing up and down to add to the cross-training nature of treadmill workouts. Using them to text and hold the phone, won’t help you max your workouts. Do your workout a favour, and leave the phone in your gym bag.

I’m bored and I couldn’t care less about sitting up straight on the exercise cycle. Sitting up straight on the exercise cycle enables you to engage your core and preserve your abdominal strength, especially back muscles, when cycling at high speeds or against greater resistance. Hunching will lead to lower back aches and you’ll find that you aren’t really taxing yourself if your stance is hunched and slow.

Cross ramp elevation and resistance on the elliptical? What’s that? The elliptical is meant to be a cross training cardio workout. If you’d like to maintain a slow to moderate pace, then increase the ramp’s elevation or angle (it could be at a decline) to challenge more muscles in your lower body. Then increase resistance in order to work your muscles even more. At least one of these three must challenge you on the elliptical – speed, resistance, cross ramp angle.

As long as I’m walking on the treadmill, I can hold the handrails for greater ease. Firstly, a workout isn’t about ease and comfort. Getting out of your comfort zone is part of the constant challenge that’ll keep your body in great shape. By holding the treadmill’s handrails you’re easing the weight off your lower body and using your upper body to cheat. Whether at an elevation or at a high speed, always work your legs when walking or running on the treadmill.

The exercise cycle is tolerable with magazines and papers. This coincides almost entirely with people who aren’t pushing themselves during cardio workouts. Absent-minded cycling will never give you time-efficient and fitness friendly results. Many trainers tell their clients to just keep cycling for hours each day, without bothering about making the session challenging. This will lead to water loss and very soon, as the next festival approaches, you’ll find that those 3-4 lost kilos return, and this time they bring friends along…

What running technique? We all ran as kids, right? Right. But we didn’t really run for speed, fitness, agility and most importantly – to avoid workout injuries. When running, most people tend to land on their heels. This, over time, will injure your ankles, shins and knees. Do your feet a favour and learn how to land on the balls of your feet. This adds momentum and makes your jog or run that much more challenging.

How does the speed or resistance matter as long as I walk for an hour on the treadmill? It matters a lot. While even slow to moderate intensity is good for cardiovascular activity, walking very slowly will do two things – muscle engagement will be negligible, and your heart rate will remain low. For these reasons, brisk walking, walking at an incline, walking while being mindful of breathing and maintaining correct posture are all great options to make that treadmill walking count.

Cycling is just about peddling, and the resistance bit is hyped and hard. If you’re cycling out on the roads and regularly, at that, then yes – it is about peddling and maintaining speed. But by using the gym exercise cycle, you’re already at a disadvantage – it’s a lot easier on your muscles and cardio strength. So challenge yourself, and increase the cycle’s resistance. Or select a programme that gives you hills and valleys and makes the cycling session tougher.

The stepper is just for the lower body and I can slouch all I want. No you can’t. Slouching on the stepper is nothing but an invitation to lower back aches as soon as your workout gets over. Keeping your back straight at all times is not an option, especially in exercise. In fact most exercises come with specific instructions on how to position your back while moving or lifting. While most of weight exercises involve arching the back, most cardio exercises involve keeping your back straight, flat (if bent at an angle) and taut. This reduces risk of injury.

The workout's over and I dash from the treadmill to the door. Probably the number one reason why many people complain of muscle and joint cramps even after exercising consistently for a number of months. Lack of warm stretching, will lead to painful cramps. Avoid this debilitating condition, by cooling down with some stretches after a gym session.